Cat marks 15 years as Alaskan mayor

A pet part-Manx cat who pawed his way into American politics is celebrating 15 years as mayor of an Alaskan town.

Residents in Talkeetna favoured a feline rather than a real candidate so Mayor Stubbs was given the honorary title. It started as a joke, but the cat won as a ‘write in’ candidate on the ballot papers.

He has been a popular tourist attraction ever since in the town of 900 people.

“He was just in the Alaska Magazine, and he’s been featured in a few different things,” said Lauri Stec, who works at Nagley’s General Store in Talkeetna, where Stubbs hangs out most of the time.